Adventures from an Island Girl

back to the island!!!

http://islandgirl.typepad.com/take_me_to_the_island/

On the road again......

A big switch from pradise but you can also follow my new blog as i travel to a much colder place!

 

http://islandgirl.typepad.com/the_island_girls_go_east/

A last Glance.....

Well, this is it! Back to the grind of everyday life. Back to the land of No sea, No sand, No sun! Ha, sounds like that should be a song! But before we go i wanted to shoot a few quick snapshots of the streets that lead to all the fun places on Cruz bay. A memory for myself or maybe it will spark a memory for you! But before i post those pictures, i had a request for this......

 

Hope this makes you smile Charli!

And now for a few last snaps.....

 

BUT! Before you leave on the ferry you MUST have a Lime N Coconut and Key Lime Pie!!!!  Just to hold you over until the next time you sink your feet in the island sand!

 

And the journey back to Canada begins...arghhhh

 

And the beloved layover in Miami!!! Arghhhh

The good news is...it only took us 14 hours to get home!

Would i do it all again??? Oh Gawd YES, in a heart beat!!!

A donkey....a burger...some Cinnamon and a whole lot of Peace

I wake up this morning and the first thing that pops in my head is....This is the last day. Arghhhhhhh Why do all the good things end so fast? I don't remember 2 weeks going by this fast in the dead of winter in Canada! This Island time has flown by so fast...but looking back ...we have had fabulous weather ( yea, better than it was in October when we had an earthquake and a hurricane!), Awesome food ( Skinny's burgers and greek salad are to die for) and the best beach weather! Yea, i got another kick ass tan! So how do you spend your last day in paradise? You........

 

Take a walk on Cruz bay and wish the peir would disppear and there would be no way off the island!

  

You take your last dive (for a while) with LowKey !

 

  

You stop one last time at Skinny Legs to eat the best burger and greek salad! Then you finally  take a walk behind Skinny's to see what's behind the place. Turns out goats live there and you can actually drive your dinghy there! I need to get me one of those dinghys!!!

  

Find out where all the donkeys have gone! Apparently they have taken up residence over in Coral Bay!

 

Try to figure out what to do next and all these signs pointing in all different directions are no help at all!

 

  

   Take a long walk on Cinnamon bay, dip your feet in the water and feel the sand between your toes. And hopefully you will take some of that memory home with you and it will hold you over until the next time you get to the island!

 

 

 

 

visit peace hill because you realized you forgot to go there! And it really is a beautiful ruin and now that they have cut down allot of overgrown bush you can see the two beautiful bays on either side!

       

Just another day in Paradise

This was just crazy kind of day! Travis went on a morning dive out with LowKey and we packed to go to the beach. We stopped at the beach bar and waited for Travis to finish his dive, and it all went wrong from there! Too many Lime n Coconut and we never saw the beach! We drank, we ate, we drank....i went home and crashed at one in the afternoon! That's just soooo wrong! I can't waste my time sleeping! I only have so much island time!!!!!

 

Travis getting back from his dive!

.....................................................................

After my nap ( yep, that's what i'm calling it!) we headed to Woody's,then the  Banana deck for supper! The food is awesome there, and the chicken wings are the best on the island! The service rocks too! Hey Josh!

The Banana Deck!

   

   

This is our new friend Linda, she works at a store that Rob said i should go shop at! LOL, a husband that tells his wife to go shopping!

 

and this is my island boy! just kidding, Josh served us at the Banana deck. He was probably one of the best on the island that we have met!

  

 

This is a new place on the island, awesome people..cool drinks!

 

 

So That was our very lazy day on the island!

Of course i can't end the day without a picture from my iguana friends!!!!

Ruins....a shipwreck...and some salt

Up early and out to JJ's Texas Cafe for some Breakfast, shopping ( yea, i LOVE St.John spice) and to book a dive.

 

Then there it was staring me right in the face...the peer. The thing that reminds me there is a way off this island and soon i will have to use it. Still a few more days til we have to leave but it starts hitting me now that i can't escape the inevitable. So i better soak in as much as can...so let's go take in as much as we can today. First stop.........

 

Amazing place to see, I have been here before but am still in awe by these ruins. It would be great to transport yourself back to see this place as it was when it was a working plantation.

 

Walking in Mary creek!

 

Mary point, Great thatch island and Jost Van Dyke

 

  The Annaberg Schoolhouse

  Interesting schoolhouse! The steps and railing are still in perfect condition but all that remains of the schoolhouse is a foundation! 

Who is Sloop Jones?

We have been out to Sloops place to by some shirts before but this time i was lucky enough to meet him and see him at work!  His work is amazing and when you see someone with one of his shirts on, you know it's an original by Sloop Jones!   

   Shipwreck Landing   

   

 

Interesting place....the view is awesome!

  An amazing view of Salt pond! It was a bit of a walk (like walking in the desert) to get to the beach...but worth it!

 

Just because he is cute and not an Iguana!!!!

A few good views!!!

 

 

Can't leave the Iguana's out!

The end of the day

A little bit Dinghy today!

We woke to  a beautiful sunny day today! The sun was shining and the rainbow gods were blessing us with their art!

 

Then off to Cruz bay to get a dinghy and off for another adventure!

 

Renting a dingy was probably  one of the best way to visit allot of the popular beaches on St. John! So we did, and what a great time we had!  First stop: Trunk Bay, because we needed some fries and shrimp!

 

   

Time to leave Trunk Bay! Full tummies and a full cooler, we are off again!

Ruins along the way

 

Stopping to snorkel at Waterlemon Cay

      

An afternoon at Little Cinnamon

 

 

 

We found lunch!

  

 

     

Sand Art!!!!!

  

And this one is for Luis!

And a whole lot of scenery

  

Heading back to land

   

And back at the Beach bar.....

   

we fed the iguana cherries 

and watched them swim

 Last stop for the day was supper at the Banana Deck!    

 

The service and atmosphere rocked! The food was really good, especially the appetizers! The Penne was awesome too!

Where did all the smooth peanut butter go?

There is a major shortage of smooth peanut butter on the island! I had looked for 5 days in every store ( ok, to be fair, there are not many food stores here) but the shelves all have this big space right next to the 100 jars of crunchy peanut butter! I just can't go another morning without my bagel and smooth peanut butter! So, called me spoiled! It's just one of those thing in life that i can NOT live without! It's like most people and their coffee! I can live without coffee but not peanut butter! Please send peanut butter!!!!

 

After i got over my peanut butter dilemma we headed to Cinnamon bay, yes, like i told you before...that beach owns my heart! I can spend a day at any beach but i keep going back to her!

 

Now a message to the folks back home! 

   

 

This isn't SO hard!

 

 

  and now watch the pro do it!

A perfect way to kill time

So, we met some interesting people today! One guy had his nice Nikon D200 all ready to take a picture of his beautiful family in the water and my first thought as he walked farther in the water was ARE YA NUTS???? Ooops, the wave went right over him and the camera. He was shocked and horrified! Ummm..what were ya thinking pal?

Then there was Scott ( at least it wasn't Pirate Scott) he was an intresting fella from NY, He played some guitar for us, drank some beer with us and told us stories only an Island guy could tell!

   But of course this guy was the most interesting...cause he just looks too cool crawling on the beach, but he needs to learn to wear shades!

And now another message for all my friends and family back home.....

 

After a day at the beach we decided to order pizza and crash at Blue tang. This being a tourist just knocks the life out of  you! Anyway here we are sitting at Blue tang outside taking in the view of Great Cruz bay and then this sails by....That's just wrong!

 

Just a whole lot of doing nothing in Cruz bay!

We decided to take it easier today and hit Cruz bay. First stop...

getting a licence to dive!

 

  

Woohoo! Travis is now a certified diver! Way to go Trav! Travis did his dive course in Ontario, Canada ( where we hang out boots) and did his certification here on the island! Travis said it was very cool because they heard whales while they were underwater! But they could not see them.

 

Next stop the beach bar! Ok, it was only a 15 step walk from where Travis did his test so i cant really say next stop! The food is always great at the beach bar, and the drinks aren't too bad too! They make a Lime n Coconut to DIE for!!!

Food porn from the Beach Bar!

  

Just passing through!

  

 

Aha! So this is what the iguana's do when we leave Blue tang for the day!!!!

And the driveway that takes us there!

 

  

So here is the driveway of Blue tang! Looks easy enough right? Try walking it! Better yet, try walking it with a few drinks in you!  remember last year, a night at Woody;s and a certain someone that had to stop halfway up and have a snooze! Not mentioning any names Heidi!!!!!

Where everybody knows your name!

(or at least after a few drinks they will!)

 

 

 

Jocelyn and Travis

  Me and Travis

 

Saying goodbye to Tenisha, one of our favs at Woody's!

More vittles!

So we meet up with this guy and ask him where is a good place to eat? He says "The Fish Trap" I think he was just trying to save his chicken friends! So he points us to fish! It was a great recomendation though, the food was awesome!

 

 

 

   

 

Trunk Bay and the day in ruins

We started the day with Trunk Bay, the waters were a little chillier (haha) not the kind of chilly like Lake Ontario chunks of ice chilly. But we injoyed the beach, fries and beer just the same!

Some beautiful views of Trunk Bay

 

  

 

  

  

  

 

  

Cinnamon Bay ruins

 

    

 

A visit to the Sugar Factory ruins at Cinnamon Bay offer a peek at St. John history. Here it is possible to follow how the Sugar Cane was processed from the fields into sugar, molasses and rum. See the horse mill where the juice was extracted from the cut cane stalks, and the boiling house where rows of copper kettles constantly condensed the syrup to crystal form.

  

Further along on the Loop Trail lay the crypts of a Danish Family who perished on the island. The one of the right is that of Anna Hjardemnaal died 1836, the wife of the owner of the plantation. Sadly her husband and 3 sons died 10 years after her.

Travis and Rob with a Bay rum tree.

 The production of bay rum became a major industry for the Virgin Islands, involving much of its population. Children would climb the trees, break off small twigs bearing twelve to fifteen leaves each, and throw them down to the women who would pack them into bags holding about seventy pounds. The bags were delivered to the factory where the distilling took place in copper stills. The bay oil that was obtained was not suitable for direct use as a toiletry, and was shipped to St Thomas where it was mixed with rum or alcohol from St Croix, and distilled by the manufacturers to become bay rum.

 

After a great dinner at Skinny legs (yea, again) we stopped at our favorite convenience store and this is what we saw.....

 

 

It's not much, but we can't find any donkeys! Where did all the donkeys go? Surely they didn't read all the "Go away donkey" signs and take them serious!!!